Wayne Foster

Football player infobox
playername = Wayne Foster


fullname =
height = height|ft=5|in=10
nickname = Tyson
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1963|9|11
cityofbirth = Tyldesley
countryofbirth = England
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1981-1985 1985-1986 1986-1994 1994 1994-1996 1996 1996-1997 1997-1998
clubs = Bolton Wanderers Preston North End Hearts → Hartlepool United "(loan)" Partick Thistle Falkirk St Mirren Livingston
caps(goals) = 160 (12) 035 0(8) 001 0(1) 002 0(2) 014 0(2)

Wayne Foster (born 11 September 1963 in Tyldesley, England) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker in England and Scotland during the 1980s and 1990s.

Early career

An English youth internationalist, Foster started his career at Bolton Wanderers, signing his first professional contract in August 1981. However, he left for Preston North End in 1985 after failing to fully establish himself at Burnden Park. He lasted less than a year before Alex MacDonald signed him for Heart of Midlothian on a free transfer.

Hearts

Foster spent 7 seasons at Tynecastle. He was initially regarded to as a first team regular in his first 2 seasons but in a total of 65 starts he only amassed 14 goals. He was used sparingly in later seasons as he still struggled to get the goals, failing to score a single goal from 17 appearances in the 1992-93 season.

cottish Cup 4th Round, 20 February 1994

Whilst never regarded as anything more than a squad player, it was this game that put Foster into Heart of Midlothian folklore. Hearts had gone on a run of games undefeated against arch-rivals Hibernian which had risen to 20 games before the sides were drawn together in the 4th Round of the Scottish Cup at Hibs' ground, Easter Road. With Hearts struggling in the league under Sandy Clark, and having the 'away disadvantage', Hibs were considered favourites for the tie - a result which would give them their first win since 4 January 1989 and end their jinx.

However, it was Hearts who opened the scoring inside the first 3 minutes, when John Robertson scored, one of 27 goals he scored against Hibs in his career. Hibs equalised before half time when Keith Wright headed home and dominated the second half, almost taking the lead when Hearts defender Craig Levein hit his own post. In an attempt to reverse the tide, Hearts replaced the tiring Robertson with Foster. With just 4 minutes remaining, Gary Mackay played a long ball over the top of the Hibs defence for Foster to run on for. Using his pace, he controlled the ball and fired the ball through the legs of advancing Hibs goalkeeper Jim Leighton and into the net, right in front of the jubilant Hearts support. The iconic image of Wayne Foster celebrating with the Hearts supporters is one that is cemented in Hearts history and in the memories of all "Jambos".

The song dedicated to Foster "(Wayne, Wayne, Super Wayne! Super Wayne Foster!)" can still be heard from the Hearts support to this very day.

Partick Thistle and later years

Following a short loan spell with Harlepool United, Foster moved to Partick Thistle midway through the 1994-95 season as part of a swap deal that saw defender Willie Jamieson move to Hearts. He scored two goals for th "Jags" in their famous 3-1 victory over Celtic, during Celtic's temporary relocation to Hampden Park while Parkhead was being redeveloped. Foster left Firlhill on a free transfer during the 1995-96 season. He had short spells with Falkirk, St Mirren and Livingston before retiring.He now works for Royal Mail, in Edinburgh Dell,

References in Popular Culture

Foster has the distinction of having a short story named after him in Irvine Welsh's 1994 collection The Acid House.

External links

*soccerbase|id=2626|name=Wayne Foster
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/fosterwayne.html Appearances] at londonhearts.com
* the aforementioned goal versus hibs http://www.londonhearts.com/images/video/foster.html

Persondata
NAME=Foster, Wayne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=English footballer
DATE OF BIRTH=September 11 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH=Tyldesley, England
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=